Transparent armor panels as currently known may be comprised of laminated sheets of various materials including an outer layer or strike face comprised of glass, ceramic or glass-ceramic. The outer layer or strike face may be configured to receive an impact from a projectile. In attempts to improve the ballistic performance of armor panels, manufacturers may add materials to the back side of the strike face. For example, in an attempt to increase the strength of the strike face, manufacturers may add a solid monolithic sheet or layer of material such as glass to the back side of the strike face to act as a backing for the strike face.
Unfortunately, adding a layer of monolithic material to the strike face may result in a relatively heavy armor panel due to the relatively high density of glass and ceramic material of the strike face and the relatively high density of the monolithic glass material added as a backing to the strike face. Furthermore, the addition of monolithic material to the strike face may provide relatively minor improvements in the ballistic performance of the armor panel.
Manufacturers may also add one or more layers of solid monolithic polycarbonate material to the back side of the ceramic strike face to improve the ballistic performance of the armor panel. Unfortunately, polycarbonate material provides minimal resistance to deformation of the strike face. In addition, adding a polycarbonate backing to the strike face may result in an armor panel that is relatively heavy due to the relatively large thickness of the ceramic strike face that may be required to provide effective ballistic performance of the armor panel.
As can be seen, there exists a need in the art for a structure such as an armor panel providing improved ballistic performance with minimal weight.